Feeling too blue? Go celebrate love during La Notte Rosa.

On the coast of Emiglia Romagna this weekend all you need is love. And they’re going to have plenty of it.

Take a white t-shirt, toss it in the love washing machine, and it’ll come out tinted pink.

Go for a ten kilometer walk with your sweetie, in the gentle glow of ‘love lights.’

Hairdressers are on hand to give your hair a pink tint for the evening.

And if you’re worried about missing the world cup, relax. The ‘world cup village’ awaits you, complete with enormous screen so you can catch the games.

There are also concerts, makeovers, poetry reading, theater, and an enormous fireworks show to light up the whole coast.

Not surprisingly, this big love fest coincides with the biggest singles reunion in Italy. So if you don’t have a sweetie quite yet head to Rimini or one of its sister cities tomorrow.

You can learn more at www.lanotterosa.it, which has an hour-by-hour schedule of events for each city involved.

Little Italy in Eritrea

Reuters is carrying an interesting little (alas, all too short) article on the lingering influence of Italian culture in Asmara, Eritrea. After being brutally “colonized” during the rule of Mussolini, the region that now includes both Ethiopia and Eritrea gained its freedom, only to fall into a civil war as Eritrea sought independence from its neighbor.

After chatting in Italian to an elderly gent in an immaculate dark suit and carrying a cane, wander off to an outside terrace and lunch on spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams).

A few hours later, drop into a peaceful gelateria with views over wooded hills for a delicious coffee ice cream.

A hill town in Tuscany? Or maybe the palms mark it as one of Sicily’s cities?

Far from it. This is Asmara, capital of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. No wonder a few days there can leave a former correspondent in Italy somewhat confused. (Link)

Tomb raider (no, not Lara) reveals oldest-ever Italian paintings

The opening paragraph from Reuters says it all:

FORMELLO, Italy (Reuters) – Italy unveiled on Friday a new archaeological site that some experts say houses the oldest paintings in the history of Western civilization. (Link)

The man who lead authorities to the site is apparently a suspected tomb raider and performed the kind deed in hope of receiving some kind of plea bargain. The paintings are attributed to the Etruscans, an ancient people that lived in the peninsula before the Romans.

Giulianna Lazzerini paints Italy

In the last decade or so Ms. Lazzerini has appeared on the artistic horizon as a internationally acclaimed painter and is much sought after by collectors. Her watercolors are especially inspiring, delightful stylized portrayals of Tuscan landscape and life.

Lazzerini was born in Tuscany, and her inspiration comes from her homeland. She states,

"My first contact with Art was in Italy as a child in my father's Mosaic Studio. The translucency of Mosaic fragments and the way colours can vibrate against each other always fascinated me. These were mainly reproductions of early Religions Images where the use of Symbolic Figures made me realise that an Art Image has its own reality. This and the spectrum of European Art is in my attempt to create new expressive Images. Colour is very important to me, it helps me convey emotion in all my subjects. My Landscapes and Buildings are evocative of Tuscany, the land where I grew up. Tuscan Mediaeval Frescoes depicting Biblical Stories in a stylised manner have had an enormous influence in my early formation as an Artist."

Some of her work can be viewed on her website. While her original watercolors are quite costly, prints of some of her popular works can be purchased from many poster stores. Currently this shop is having a sale and 18 of Lazzerini's works are available.

Tom Cruise takes a brief Roman holiday

Stopping in Rome for eight short hours to promote his new film, Mission Impossible III, Cruise claims the real impossible mission was leaving his newborn daughter (though he did manage it).

No word yet on whether he managed to jump on any couches. 

2000th Lamborghini Murciélago rolls off line

Lamborghini celebrated today as they reached a production milestone with the 12-cylinder Murciélago. It comes on the heels of their record success with the Gallardo, the 3000th of which was built last November. The company plans to introduce a new version of the Murciélago, the Murciélago Coupe LP640, which will have a 640-horsepower engine, reach a top speed of 211 mph, and accelerate from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 3.4 seconds.

Link

Milan hosts historic car design exhibit

Don't drool on the keyboard, car-lovers.

Until the 13th of April (when the exhibit ends), you can indulge in 50 years of Italian auto design at the Milan National Museum of Science and Technology. The show features the work of some of the most celebrated houses in the field, such as Bertone, Pininfarina, and Italdesign-Giugiaro. These are the folks who have created the styles of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and Alfa-Romeo (as well as some for foreign brands like VW, Volvo, Peugeot, Austin, Rolls, and others). Unfortunately the museum's website doesn't seem to have any info up yet.

Link